How do you plan the perfect event video?
If you’re an event organiser looking to get video content, you have a great opportunity to get a huge amount of value from your video provider. On top of some slick content for future event marketing, you have the chance to tell your organisation’s story, talk about your recent successes, and set out your intentions and goals for the coming months or years. There are a few key points you need to consider when setting out your video brief.
What makes your event unique?
Is it a big-name speaker, bringing together a group of experts, a new product or announcement, or simply an excellent networking opportunity? These headlines are where you want to focus your videos, using them to demonstrate why you were holding an event in the first place.
Showcase your stakeholders
This covers everyone from your audience through your speakers to exhibitors and sponsors.
Audience - make sure the videos feature the people you want to attract to your organisation and future events. Reaction shots of your attendees is good, but getting soundbites will add an extra dimension to the finished film.
Speakers - these will generally get the most time on screen, but you don’t have to limit this to their time on stage. If you plan for a series of short interviews to take place during the day, you’ll also be able to publish a documentary-style piece talking about the themes most important to your organisation.
Exhibitors and sponsors - yes you’ll want to give coverage to banners and stalls to those who have paid to be featured, but as with your audience, spending a few minutes speaking to them gives you testimonials to attract more for future events.
Get more content
It’s tempting to think that one event equals one film. However, given that you’ve already chosen to invest in a video supplier, take advantage of the economies of scale available. The additional cost of further films is relatively low compared to commissioning a whole new project. Furthermore, rather than trying to cram all of your desired outcomes into a single output, you have the opportunity to produce multiple videos each with their own aim, or an entire campaign.
There’s a good chance your event has taken months of planning and coordination to get all of the right people together at the same time. Use this chance to create content that isn’t just about the event itself, but the people inside and outside of your organisation that can champion it.
Know your platforms
It’s easy to forget that where and how you share your videos later has a significant impact on the format of your content. Think about your target audiences and where they spend their time online.
There are the obvious limitations such as aspect ratios and length, but also, what people are actually willing to watch varies significantly between Instagram, Twitter and YouTube for example. Subtitles are virtually a necessity, both for accessibility, and because the vast majority of social media posts are viewed with the sound off.
Find out more
Dan Waters runs Adarak, a Leeds-based provider of professional and affordable videography, photography and aerial footage. We’re here to help you turn your ideas, products, and case studies into something you’ll be proud to share.